Enviro Mentality

NAIS, for the meantime, has been shelved by the USDA. This sounds good, but…. and I say this with a capital “B”… that we should not reduce our vigilance where any sort of government intrusion into our food system is concerned.

Says USDA Secretary Vilsack, “We are committed to working in partnership with States, Tribal Nations and industry in the coming months to address many of the details of this framework, and giving ample opportunity for farmers and ranchers and the public to provide us with continued input through this process.” Let’s make sure this happens; that we who are committed to local food &  preserving our small farms stay on the ball and not get complacent. We are not to let our guard down, not even for a minute.

I am bothered by this:  These steps will include accelerating actions to lessen the risk from diseases–such as tuberculosis–posed by imported animals, and WHY do we have to IMPORT animals for our food? … improving response capabilities, and focusing on greater collaboration and analyses with States and industry on potential disease risk overall. Keeping in mind, here, that small farmers’ livestock has never contributed to the beef industry food recalls.

One of USDA’s  first steps will be to convene a forum with animal health leaders for the States and Tribal Nations to initiate a dialogue about the possible ways of achieving the flexible, coordinated approach to animal disease traceability Flexible should take into consideration the small farmers and consumers who own livestock.  They should not be lumped in with the massive feed lots, (CAFOS) and withor compared to facilities which breed disease.

ALL of us need to be more aware of where our food comes from and what’s in it.  Read this Organic Consumer’s article for a quick briefing.  It’s written by a farmer.

We CANNOT RELAX on this issue!  Special interest groups like Monsanto, Cargill, ADM and Tyson and major food retailers like Wal-Mart are NOT out to protect consumers!  Wal-Mart is aggressively raising the level of food imports as reported in Supermarket News.  U.S. food imports are staggering.  WHY should we allow the government to use us as Guinea pigs so that retailers can save money? Imports are on the rise, even since this 2004  article.

Across this land people are starting to wake up regarding our food:  what’s in it, where it comes from and how its produced.  Everyone who is concerned needs to voice their opinion.  The thousands of letters, e-mails and phone calls made obviously reached someone in the government.  The 100 organizations who opposed NAIS and millions of consumers who called, faxed or signed online petitions – accomplished something.

Now is NOT the time to quit!